My Writing Ramblings: The Season of Literary Abandon Approaches

I love summer but I love when Autumn rolls around too and it’s for a few reasons. The colour of the trees, the excuse to cuddle up under a duvet as the weather gets cooler, Halloween and Christmas. I even love listening to the sound of the rain on the roof. Yeah, I am strange.

Another reason why I get so excited for this time of year is that the countdown has begun for National Novel Writing Month.

For anyone who isn’t familiar with NaNoWriMo, it is ‘thirty days of literary abandon.’

Founded by a group of writers in San Francisco in 1999, the idea is that for thirty days between 1st – 30th November, we tell the internal editor to leave us alone and just write. It’s all about getting the fifty thousand words written rather than worry about the quality. There is a whole load of advice on how to approach editing once the challenge is done.

My internal editor has a lot to answer for and I think this is why I love this chance to say goodbye to it for a while. The community surrounding NaNoWriMo is incredible and so supportive. I really feel like I am a part of something.

This will be my seventh year participating but it still hasn’t lost any of its excitement.

Your book can be in any genre and POV you like.

My routine is that I buy a new notebook in October. I know, any excuse right? I always set out to plan what I am going to write. Some years have a more detailed outline than others and more often than not I will start out with a plan and end up a pantster by the end of the month. That’s part of the fun.

The advantage of this challenge is the fact that by the end, you will have words down on paper or computer. Even if you don’t finish, you will still have more words written than you did at the beginning of the month. It’s a fun way to write.

The manuscript will be a mess. I don’t see this as a huge disadvantage but it does mean that editing will be important once you’ve completed the thirty days.

The way I look at it though, at least there is something to edit.

I think NaNoWriMo is great for every kind of writer especially for one like me who struggles in getting started and keeping going. The deadline of that thirty days is a big motivator and you’ll meet some lovely people along the way.

In the coming days, I will be sharing my essentials for National Novel Writing Month as well as chronicling my month as it goes along. I will also be using social media to link back to some of the advice given by writers on previous years so be sure to check out the Facebook page and Twitter. 

Are you taking part this year? Let me know in the comments.

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.